Word forms: plural burrslanguage note: The spelling bur is also used for meaning [sense 1].
1. countable noun
A burr is the part of some plants which contains seeds and which has little hooks on the outside so that it sticks to clothes or fur.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
If someone has a burr, they speak English with a regional accent in which 'r' sounds are pronounced more strongly than in the standard British way of speaking.
...a warm West Country burr.
burr in British English1
(bɜː)
noun
1.
a small power-driven hand-operated rotary file, esp for removing burrs or for machining recesses
2.
a rough edge left on a workpiece after cutting, drilling, etc
3.
a rough or irregular protuberance, such as a burl on a tree
4. British
a burl on the trunk or root of a tree, sliced across for use as decorative veneer
noun, verb
5. a variant spelling of bur
verb(transitive)
6.
to form a rough edge on (a workpiece)
7.
to remove burrs from (a workpiece) by grinding, filing, etc; deburr
Word origin
C14: variant of bur
burr in British English2
(bɜː)
noun
1. phonetics
an articulation of (r) characteristic of certain English dialects, esp the uvular fricative trill of Northumberland or the retroflex r of the West of England
2.
a whirring sound
verb
3.
to pronounce (words) with a burr
4.
to make a whirring sound
Word origin
C18: either special use of bur (in the sense: rough sound) or of imitative origin
burr in British English3
or bur (bɜː)
noun
1.
a washer fitting around the end of a rivet
2.
a blank punched out of sheet metal
Word origin
C16 (in the sense: broad ring on a spear): variant of burrow (in obsolete sense: borough)
burr in British English4
or buhr or bur (bɜː)
noun
1. short for buhrstone
2.
a mass of hard siliceous rock surrounded by softer rock
Word origin
C18: probably from bur, from its qualities of roughness
Burr in British English
(bɜː)
noun
Aaron. 1756–1836, US vice-president (1800–04), who fled after killing a political rival in a duel and plotted to create an independent empire in the western US; acquitted (1807) of treason
Burr in American English
(bɜr)
Aaron1756-1836; U.S. political leader: vice president of the U.S. (1801-05): killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel (1804)
burr in American English1
(bɜr)
noun
1.
a rough edge or ridge left on metal or other material by cutting or drilling
2.
a washer on the small end of a rivet
3.
bur1 (sense 1) bur1 (sense 2) bur1 (sense 3)
verb transitive
4.
to form a rough edge on
5.
to remove burrs from (metal)
Word origin
var. of bur1
burr in American English2
(bɜr)
noun
1.
the trilling of r, with uvula or tongue, as in the dialectal speech of northern England and Scotland
2.
a whirring sound
verb intransitive
3.
to speak with a burr
4.
to make a whir
verb transitive
5.
to pronounce with a burr
Word origin
prob. echoic
burr in American English3
(bɜr)
noun
buhrstone
burr in Mechanical Engineering
(bɜr)
Word forms: (regular plural) burrs
noun
(Mechanical engineering: Manufacturing and assembly)
A burr is a rough edge on a workpiece after it has been cut, drilled, etc.
File the edges of the steel to remove any burrs.
The burrs on the edges of the teeth must be cleaned up with a small triangular jewelers' file.
A burr is a rough edge on a workpiece after it has been cut, drilled, etc.
Examples of 'burr' in a sentence
burr
She rolled the two words with an attempt at a rural burr.
Barbara Erskine HIDING FROM THE LIGHT
The line was disconnected, though not dead: a comforting burr echoed down it.
Trenhalle, John A MEANS TO EVIL
It was Emma's voice, but the tone had changed; the accent had softened into a local burr.